August 24 has become Kobe Bryant Day since it’s 8/24 — the two jersey numbers the late Los Angeles Lakers legend wore during his storied career — and to honor Bryant and his daughter Gigi, the team will wear special “Black Mamba” jerseys with commemorative patches on them for Game 4 of their playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Those jerseys were put on sale by Nike on Monday morning through the SNKRS app, but as we’ve seen many times, a lot of people were mad when they missed out on purchasing the jerseys.
From what fans are saying on Twitter, it sounds like the Black Mamba jerseys were sold out in a minute or two.
First, here’s a look at the jerseys we’ll see on Monday night in Game 4:
The Lakers remember Kobe and Gigi on 8/24 đź’ś
(via @Lakers) pic.twitter.com/HyZ3IsYxCB
— ESPN (@espn) August 24, 2020
The Los Angeles Lakers will honor Kobe Bryant on 8/24 by wearing the “Black Mamba” jerseys with a special patch for Gigi Bryant. pic.twitter.com/uoHU3tJWtf
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 24, 2020
And some reaction from furious users:
Sucks that the real fans don’t even get a chance. Resellers and bots ruin it smh. Mamba jersey sold out. Never using SNKRS again. pic.twitter.com/Iioafc72ok
— NBALakersReport (@NBALakersReport) August 24, 2020
@Nike @nikebasketball @Lakers The fact that the Kobe Bryant Black Mamba jersey sold out in under 1 minute today is awful. Every Kobe fan should be able to honor his memory wearing this jersey with some proceeds going to a charitable foundation. $600 on eBay smh..
— Name (@Fortress30_MUT) August 24, 2020
SNKRS app sucks, we want KOBE jersey and it is sold out in 5 mins! Wow! You guys suck, resellers profiting this jersey. It should be for everyone! https://t.co/wr6QKCGhRD
— Karl Reyes (@kingkarlsky) August 24, 2020
Me 7:00: Imma get this Kobe jersey… its pending
Me 7:01: SOLD OUT! pic.twitter.com/Ov2Wmi2xSF
— Mamba Day…Everydayđź’śđź’› (@PoisonedDarling) August 24, 2020
Selected the Kobe jersey on SNKRS at exactly 10 am, waited 3 minutes for the transaction to go thru just for it to tell me they’re sold out. I hate this app Idk why I keep doing this to myself. pic.twitter.com/GXPaCmtBY4
— azula’s therapist (@Thotless1) August 24, 2020
Me: I have a feeling I’m going to be able to buy the Kobe jersey off of SNKRS today.
SNKRS:
— Dan Gastin (@Gastin1539) August 24, 2020
@Nike if you want to truly honor the Mamba’s legacy you would prevent these bots/resellers from swiping products before the FANS. I had the Kobe jersey fully checked out under 20 seconds of launch and I got a “sold out”. Be better. pic.twitter.com/CFWrbN3voC
— Rohit Koratkar (@Ro_Exotic) August 24, 2020
Me thinking I was gonna get the Kobe Jersey since I ordered it within 10 seconds pic.twitter.com/r9Tkz8SLf1
— Cj (@CjHill_CB4) August 24, 2020
It’s a legitimate gripe if what they’re saying is really the case. If bots and those intending to resell the jerseys at a much higher price flooded the market and grabbed the jerseys, that’s all kinds of awful. And shouldn’t Nike have anticipated this and put together a whole ton of stock so that this kind of thing doesn’t happen?
It makes business sense for Nike to limit supply of its special edition merchandise and shoes. It’s lame and drives sneakerheads crazy, but it makes sense. But doing this with Kobe merchandise is different. This is someone who was beloved by a lot of people, who died tragically earlier this year. Nike trying to limit the release isn’t a good look.
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